Door latch



Jan. 3, 1956 c. o. WESTOVER 2,729,489

DOOR LATCH Filed Feb. 4, 1955 Z1 22 f 20 f4 15 g0 INVENTOR Claude 0 l l sibrfer BY /W ATTORNEY United States Patent DOOR LATCH Claude 0. Westover, Orlando, Fla. Application February 4, 1953, Serial No. 335,026 3 Claims. (Cl. 292 -143 This invention relates to a latch which is particularly adapted for use upon a screen door as an auxiliary latch serving to hold the door closed, the latch being of such construction that it may be applied to a door already equipped with a latch of conventional formation and so located that a small child capable of reaching and releasing the main latch will not be able to reach the auxiliary latch and open the door, the small child being thus confined in a house or upon a porch and making it unnecessary for a parent or other attendant to watch the child and prevent it from leaving the house or the porch and becoming lost or injured.

One object of the invention is to provide a latch which may be very easily mounted upon a door at any height desired above the main latch and readily reached by an adult but incapable of being reached by a small child who is to be confined in a house or upon a porch.

Another object of the invention is to so form the latch that a stem of the latch may be passed through doors of various thicknesses and a protruding portion of the stem then bent to form a handle constituting means for turning the stem and also serving as a retainer for the latch.

Another object of the invention is to provide a' latch which does not need to be fitted into a socket cut in the door, it being merely necessary to form a small stem-receiving opening through the door by means of a nail or drill and then set the latch in place with its initially straight stem passing through the opening.

Another object of the invention is to provide a latch which is simple in construction and may be manufactured and sold at low cost and applied to a door without necessitating the services of a skilled carpenter.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a view in elevation showing the improved latch applied to a door.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view upon an enlarged scale showing the latch and a portion of a door frame and a door upon which the latch is mounted.

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation looking at the outer side of a portion of a door upon which the improved latch is mounted.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view upon an enlarged view taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the stem of the latch.

This latch is primarily intended for use as an auxiliary latch which is applied to a door in order to hold the door shut and prevent a small child from opening the door by releasing the latch or lock customarily applied to a door and then pushing the door open. It will be understood, however, that the improved latch may be applied to the door as the sole latch for securing the door closed.

In the drawings the auxiliary latch is shown applied to a door 1 which may be a screen door for a porch and 2 referring to Figure 1, it will be seen that the'latch which is indicated in general by the numeral 2 is applied to the door at such a distance above the knob 3 of the usual latch or lock that while it may be easily reached and operated by an adult it cannot be reached by a small child who is to be confined upon a porch. The door is set into the usual door frame 4 and hinged at one side so that it may be swung to opened and closed positions, movement of the door to a closed position being limited by abutment strips 5, 6 and 7 which are secured along opposite sides of the door frame and across the upper end of the door frame.

The improved latch is illustrated in detail in Figures 2, 4 and 5 and referring to these figures, it will be seen that it has inner and outer plates 8 and 9 which are disposed against inner and outer surfaces of the door. These plates are formed of stiff sheet metal, the outer plate being secured by small nails 10 and the inner plate by screw-eyes 11 which are passed through the plate and screwed into the door until their edges tightly clamp the plate to the door and are disposed in horizontal alignment with each other, as shown in Figure 4. The bolt 12 consists of a short metal rod or bar which is circular in cross section and of such diameter that it passes loosely through the screw-eyes 11 and is free from binding engagement with the eyes, as shown in Figure 5. The bolt is therefore freely slidable longitudinally through the eyes from the extended door-securing position shown in the drawings to a retracted position. When the bolt is in the extended position, its outer or forward end portion overlaps a keeper 13 which is formed from a plate of stifi sheet metal bent to provide an attaching flange 14 through which a screw 15 is passed to firmly hold the keeper against the abutment strip 5. The keeper projects from the abutment strip 5 laterally thereof and when the door is closed it overlaps the keeper and bears against the outer surface of the abutment strip but is preferably spaced outwardly from the keeper a short distance, as shown in Figure 4, so that the keeper will not be bent out of its proper shape or the screw 15 Worked loose if the door is allowed to slam shut after being opened.

In order to move the bolt 12 to a retracted or extended position, there has been provided a stem 16 formed from a strand of stiif wire. This stem is passed through an opening 17 formed through the door and also through 18 and 19 formed through the plates 8 and 9. The inner portion of the stem is bent to form a hook shaped portion 20 constituting a finger hold and the wire strand is of such thickness that the bill 21 of the finger hold fits loosely in the opening 22 formed through the bolt as shown in Figure 4. By grasping the finger hold and imparting turning movement to the stem the hook-shaped portion 2 and the bill 21 will be swung in an arcuate path about the stern as a center between the eyes and the bolt will be slid longitudinally through the screw-eyes into or out of an extended position in which it overlaps the keeper and holds the door shut. After the stem has been passed through the door and the two plates 18 and 19, the portion of the stem protruding from the outer plate is bent with pliers or the fingers of a persons hand, and forms a handle 23 which is of such length that a person grasping the same may readily turn the stem and thus cause the portion 20 to swing toward one eye or the other and move the bolt to an extended or retracted position. The bolt may thus be actuated by a person standing either inside or outside the door.

When the latch is being applied to a door the plate 8 is first placed against the inner surface of the door and secured by the screw-eyes 11. A nail is then driven through the opening 18 and through the door to form the opening 17 or this opening may be formed with a Patented Jan. 3, 6

3 drilL oi the proper: size. against the outer surface of the door with its opening 19 registering with the opening 17 and secured by the nails l'0g-after'which the bolt 12' is slid into place through-the screw-eyes 11 and the stem passed outwardly through the openings 18, 17, and 19-andthe bill 21 passed through the opening 22" in thebolt andthe outwardly protruding portion of the stem' bentto form the handle 23. The

keeper is thendisposed' against the abutment strip 5 and secured by the screw 15. While it has'been stated that the nail'is removed and the plate 9 then=mounted against the outer surface of the door, it will be understood that the plate 9' may be slid along a protruding portion of the: nail and secured by the'nails 10 or thestem passed through the plate 8 and the opening through the door after the nail has been withdrawn and the stem then thrust outwardly through the door with its bill engaged through the-opening 22 in the bolt 12 and the outer plate 9 then applied and the protruding outer portion of the stem' bentto form the handle;

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: 1. A door latch comprising inner and outer plates formed with openings for registering with an opening formed through a door, fasteners for the inner plate spaced from each other transversely of the said inner plate and* having eyes bearing against the said inner plate, a bolt freely slidable longitudinally through the eyes for movement to extended'and retracted positions, a portion of the bolt between the eyes being formed with a transverse opening, and a stern formed of stiff metal having one end portion formed with a lateral extension terminating in a bill passing through the opening in the bolt with its free end presented towards the inner. plate, said stem being projected through the registering openings of the The plate 9 is then secureders for the inner plate and having shanks projectingsnugly through openings inthe inner plate and screwed into a door, and having enlarged eyes pressing the inner plate into contact with the associated door, said eyes being disposed in spaced relation with the openings therein aligned, a bolt freely slidable longitudinally through the eyes of said screw eyes and formed with a transverse opening located between the eyes of the screw eyes, and a stem of still? wire having one end'portion bent to form a lateral hook having a bill disposed in spaced overlying parallel relation to the stem and loosely received in the opening in said bolt, said stem being circular in cross section and being projected through the aligned openings in the plate and through the intervening door with a portion of the stem projecting from the outer plate and bent to form a laterally extending handle.

3. A door latch comprising inner and outer plates formed with openings for registering with an opening formed through a'door, a bolt formed with a transverse opening, spaced'memberson one plate slidably mounting the bolt for longitudinal movement toretracted and extendedposition's, and an operating element consisting of a strand of stiflwire passing through the registering openings in said plates and rotatable therein, said strand having a hook-shaped end portion provided with a bill projecting through said transverse opening in the bolt, the transverse opening being of greater diameter than the bill so as'to permit the bolt to be shifted longitudinally when the strand is turned, the other end portion of the strand being bent laterally to form a handle.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,860,910 Taylor May 3-1, 1932 2,198,079 Ferris et al Apr. 23, 1940 2,522,878" Larson Sept. 19, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 351,927 Germany Apr. 19, 1922 

